On 12 November, the Senate also adopted an amendment tightening the taxation of drinks that combine alcohol, sugar and stimulants. Passed by 172 votes to 157, it raises the alcohol-strength ceiling of the tax from 12 to 25 degrees. The previous finance law had already extended the tax on premixes — mixtures of a base alcohol and a non-alcoholic ingredient — to alcoholic drinks containing certain stimulant substances.
The government had included in the text a contribution of 150 million euros. It was to be calculated on the amounts reimbursed by the health insurance system, at a rate of 3.6% in 2027.
The scope concerned is broad: dressings, crutches, masks, pacemakers, prostheses, hearing aids and insulin pumps, all devices used daily by patients.
According to the Ministry of Health, growth in the sector averaged 4.7% a year between 2022 and 2025. Stéphanie Rist, Minister of Health, defended the aim of the measure: “It seeks to strengthen the regulation of spending linked to medical devices, whose sustained rise is truly a major issue for the sustainability of our health system.”.
Last year, this clause amounted to 65 million euros, after 38 million in 2025. These sums come on top of price cuts and contractual rebates.
In the original text, the first 20 million euros of reimbursed amount for each operator were not to be taken into account when allocating the contribution.
The government opposed the deletion amendment, which it considers ineffective. It remains firm on the objective of regulating medical devices, while saying it is open to discussing how the effort is shared.
In conjunction with the social affairs committee, the minister intends to revise her draft and favour mechanisms already in place. The government plans to propose, in Article 11, sticking to those mechanisms rather than introducing a new contribution.
Amendments tabled on the bill, examined from 9 November, are presented with an unchanged deficit target. In Article 10, senators followed their social affairs committee and deleted the introduction of a contribution on pharmacy groups.
The same examination covered other revenues. On 10 November, senators adopted Article 8, which extends the tax on sugary drinks to the most sugary industrial products, after excluding artisanal products. The debate mentioned a rise of 6 cents on a packet of biscuits.
The discussion notably targeted cans of the brand “Vody”, whose composition and visual identity were described as tailored to young people. Some variants combine a very strong alcohol and a high dose of sugar, up to 30 grams per 25-centilitre can.